Two male lions were mating in a wildlife park and the photo has gone viral

A pair of gay lions engaged in a mating display at a British wildlife park have raised some eyebrows.

The two males were seen getting intimate while a lioness was just metres away, Pink News has reported.

Russ Bridges, the amateur photographer who caught photos of the lions getting down, said, “There are two males and a female in that pride. One of the lions suddenly got up, walked over and jumped on his friend’s back.

“A fair few people were watching this going on and laughing—they were all commenting on what it looked like.”

Bridges played off the mating display, calling it “play” although lions are among a huge number of animals known to have gay sex.

“It’s not really unusual for them to act that way sometimes,” he said.

“I don’t know if it’s a dominance thing or something like that—it looks as if they are aggressive, but it’s all play between friends.”

Bridges said he’d never seen anything like it in his time as an amateur wildlife photographer.

“I’ve never seen a shot of two males on top of one another with one sticking his tongue out before,” he said.

“I think it was a bit of a ‘should have gone to Specsavers’ moment as a lioness was just lying there next to them.”

Photo of two male lions 'mating' at wildlife park goes viral https://t.co/7gOgkQ3c2K

— The Independent (@Independent) August 28, 2017